VANCOUVER, British Columbia—The roof of the downtown Vancouver sports stadium, scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, collapsed on Friday.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The cause of the accident at B.C. Place Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 60,000, was not immediately known. Witnesses said that a large section of the roof, held up by air pressure, appeared to have ripped open shortly before the roof deflated onto the playing field below.
"Everyone said 'What's that noise?' I looked over and there was a big section flapping in the wind," said Ryan MacKay, a worker at a nearby construction site.
The city was being hit with a rain and snowstorm when the collapse occurred. The roof is made of a Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric. BC Place claims it is the world's largest air-supported domed stadium.
A handful of workers were inside the facility at the time of the accident but were able to get to safety.
"It was crazy, nothing like you could ever imagine," said Trevor Holness. A picture of the roof, taken by Holness on his cellphone, showed the tear in the material expanding as the roof flapped in the wind before slowly coming down.
Holness said workers returning from their lunch break had noticed that the sound system suspended from the roof appeared to be lower than normal before they noticed the tear.
In addition to being scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Games, the facility is home to the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League.
It was built for the 1986 world's fair, Expo 86.
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